1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190 
Three-phase boost for M-B
Page 72
Page 73
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
In the three years since Adam Slater took over a hesitant truck re-marketing division at Mercedes-Benz he's turned Approved Used Commercials into a model concept...
In the foyer of the Wentworth Way site near Barnsley is an aerial shot of the site with several thousand SK tractors and chassis cabs parked up. It's an impressive image and could just be decoration but it might also serve as a daily reminder of just how hard it is to shift second-hand trucks.
Nothing says more about a manufacturer than piles of surplus stock unable to find a new home, especially when product quality isn't an issue. It all comes down to the success of the sales team to get them back out on the road.
When CM visited Wentworth Way in 2001 general manager (or sales manager as he was then) Adam Slater was just getting used to his surroundings. His job wasn't easy. Mercedes, like its competitors, had no action plan for re-marketing trucks coming back into the marketplace and stock was beginning to mount.
Pre-set buyback deals, falling residuals, supply swamping demand and neglect from the top all contributed to a used market dominated by independent dealerships making decent money from the best pickings.
To get Mercedes-Benz back in the game Slater devised a three-phase plan.First he created an infrastructure working in partnership with its approved dealerships and let them get on with the job of selling trucks.The network was trimmed to 23 sites, with Barnsley consolidating its retail and wholesale marketplace. 'Confidence' and 'trust' were the buzz words that summed up the new philosophy.
Focusing on used trucks
Success led to phase two a greater focus on defined areas in the used vehicle market.To do this 18 new faces were employed last July. Growing fleet, rental contract and export sales now have Mark Blackledge, Nigel Catterall and Colin Gray respectively looking after what were previously integrated sectors.
"It's had an immediate effect.We thought it might take 12 months for them to bed down, but we have seen the effects already," Slater reports. "This year vehicle turnover has doubled to 3,500 units, partly due to all of DaimlerChrysler's Charterway financed trucks coming in and the decision to take vans in-house."
More than 2,000 vans are expected to pass through South Yorkshire, varying from 03-plates to W-registrations."The Sprinter is robust and will do the mileage,which is why it is so popular. The RVs are performing well," he adds.
Slater can predict exactly which vehicles will be returning, making turnover a secondary issue.What matters is the speed with which vehicles are passed back to the dealers. As we went to press just 200 vehicles were waiting at Wentworth Way ready to go to dealers.
Last year the network of approved dealerships grew to 41; since then it has expanded again to 56 approved used dealers, complete with more than 88 approved aftersales centres. This is something the general manager is pleased about: "It's a challenge, but in business customers should be able to come to any of the 56 outlets,get a solution for their transport requirements and be supported by the 88 aftersales centres.That's the message we want to get over to operators through the dealerships," he says.
It's a message that seems to be paying off. Paul Ridout has come in from Charterway and helped swell business by 1.3.5m simply by being on site and working directly with the sales team. Export sales into more than 30 countries have risen from 7% in 2001 to more than 18% This has cleared a lot of older stock as most of the trucks heading overseas are pre-1999 registration.
Medium and longer-term rental contracts now take up 7% of the business, with more than 250 vehicles due to be sent out this year. "It's another avenue.'One-stopshop' is an old phrase but we are trying to give the customer no reason to go elsewhere for a transport solution," Slater explains.
The interest in fleet sales is underpinned by the fact that a third of transport companies buying new also purchase used trucks.These are clear areas of growth for Mercedes-Benz.
Successful advertising campaigns led by marketing co-ordinator Lisa Watkin are driving the business forward.There has been Club 18-35, which pushed fleet-spec Actros 1835 tractors; the Predator line-up, which saw the Actros range revamped. with one given away for 12 months to an operator; and the Pulsar, which successfully boosted sales of lied-spec tractors.
The most recent was a batch of older 815s, dubbed the Eco-Warrior."That was seen as an entry-level vehicle and was delivered to customers who perhaps hadn't had Mercedes products before" says Slater."Marketing helps sell the truck.but it also generates fresh interest in other products.
"The Predator sold but it helped shift some similar vehicles too."
A flyer a day
The Vito gets a push, advertised at £5 a day; Atego Amigo comes with the catchy tag"a tenner a day is all you pay" for 7.5-tonne chassis-cabs with various bodies.The emphasis is on weekly and even daily running costs.
The next phase is more about working with the dealer infrastructure and sharing a 'best practice' policy.The hard work is hardly over for Slater and the team at Wentworth Way hut in truth the dirty work is.
Confidence and trust have been restored to the dealerships. Slater handles the majority of returning Mercedes-Benz products to the used market, and he's backed up by a sales team that can deliver what it says on the tin.That's "Mercedes-Benz approved used commercials,concludes the general manager. •